My Desire Is Only For The Chief
by lilballerette10
Summary: Tag to episode 6.25. Steve stays conscious a little longer in the plane / a much needed conversation between the partners in the hospital. *Don't read if you haven't watched the episode*
1. Chapter 1

**As so many of you, I loved the 2 episode finale but I really wished two things about the episode were different. 1) I wish Steve was conscious a little longer on the plane and 2) At the end of the episode, aside from Steve getting all the attention, I didn't like how Steve acted towards Danny. I understand at that scene they had already been in the hospital a week so maybe they had already had the "thanks for saving my life, I love you" chat, but it would have been nice for the viewers to see. So here is my version. I've split it into two parts. Part 1 will be when they're still in the air and Part 2 will be the hospital room scene. Hope you guys enjoy it :)**

* * *

 **Part 1**

Once Honolulu International Control answered his mayday call he knew he was going to have to give up their cover, he also knew that giving up their cover meant that Dae Won may just shoot him right then and there; a risk he was willing to take. He needed to land this plane to get Steve help before he bled out – nothing else mattered right now.

"This is, this is Detective Danny Williams with the Five 0 task force, I need help landing this plane."

"You're a cop?!"

Just as Danny expected he was now staring down the barrel of Dae Won's gun.

"Hey, put down the gun!" Danny yelled as his sharp movement to grab his own gun elicited a moan from Steve. Danny felt sick at the thought that he had caused his friend anymore pain but he had to get Dae Won to stand down. "Put down the gun I'm not going to ask you again."

"It's not goin'a happen."

The fear in Dae Won's face would have been comical if it weren't for their current predicament.

"Shoot him Danny," Steve insisted, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"I got him, I got him, I got him," Danny's voice shook, a slight quiver escaping with every word he spoke to his deteriorating partner. He placed a hand on Steve's arm, trying to reassure him that everything would soon be okay. As he swallowed the lump in his throat he noticed the deathly pale skin of his partner. Danny knew he didn't have much time – he had to convince Dae Won to let him land this plane, or die trying.

After some back and forth with Dae Won, he finally came around, realizing that Danny was their best bet at coming out of this alive.

"Switching to channel 17," Danny breathed the tiniest sigh of relief once the gun was no longer trained on his head. "You're alright Steve."

"I'm goin'a die Danny."

Danny's heart sank; those were words he had never wanted to hear come out of his partner's mouth and it just confirmed his initial assessment of Steve's injuries – he was bleeding out – fast.

"No you're not, just hang in there, you're goin'a be alright, alright," Danny said, trying to keep his composure as he scratched the back of his head anxiously.

"Again this is Detective Danny Williams, I'm in a Cessna aircraft, I'm headed your way. The pilot, my colleague, he's been shot, he has multiple gunshot wounds, I need EMTs standing by right when we get this thing on the ground, which I have no clue, zero clue, how to do, over."

Danny couldn't help the quiver in his voice; it didn't help that he could practically feel his heart beating out of his chest – he'd never been so scared in his entire life. As terrified as he was of dying in a horrific plane crash in the middle of the ocean, it was nothing compared to the gut wrenching fear of losing his best friend.

Danny spent the next few seconds following step by step instructions from air control, trying to keep his breathing under control, holding back the panic attack that was threatening to make an untimely appearance. Once he had followed all of air control's momentary instructions, he looked over at Steve.

"Buddy," he nudged Steve's arm to make sure he was still conscious.

"M'still here," Steve slightly opened his eyes as he stared blankly at the roof of the aircraft.

Danny exhaled the breath he had been holding in. He had been so afraid that Steve would've already lost consciousness with the amount of blood he had lost.

"That's good, that's good babe, just keep talking to me okay."

"'Bout w- 'bout what?"

"Anything babe, anything you want."

"M'tired Danno."

Danny looked from the gauges back to his partner. Steve looked so fragile, so un-Steve like that it made Danny want to cry.

"I know buddy, I know you are but you have to stay awake for me please, okay? Please babe," he knew it wasn't fair to beg, he knew how hard Steve was fighting to stay awake, how tired he had to be, but he couldn't let Steve close his eyes. Closing his eyes meant that he may never open them again and that was something Danny couldn't, no, something Danny wouldn't, come to terms with.

 _A few seconds later…_

"You jumped," Steve said as he turned his head slightly to look at Danny.

"Huh?"

"That building, y-ou you jumped, can cross off y-your bucket list now right?"

Danny let out a laugh, god it felt nice to laugh, as he shook his head. Steve was definitely talking about them jumping the building when they were trying to save Gabriel's life.

"Pretty sure you're the only person on the planet who would have that on a bucket list Steve."

Steve smiled as he closed his eyes.

"M'sorry Danny."

Danny looked over at his partner with confusion plastered all over his face.

"For what?"

"We've be- been fightin' a lot late-lately."

Danny sighed, he had wondered when this conversation would take place.

"I wouldn't call it fighting per se, more like friendly arguments," Danny countered.

"St-still, been m-more, not like," Steve closed his eyes as a wave of pain coursed through his body and Danny instinctively reached out, squeezing Steve's arm in support.

"Not like before," Steve continued as he felt Danny's arm ground him. "M'sorry if I've m-made it worse lately."

Danny shook his head.

"It's not really you babe, I've had so much going on with Charlie. Everything he has had to go through really upsets me and you're the one person I spend the most of my time with so my anger and frustration is sometimes misdirected at you. You know that saying? The one about how the ones you love the most are the ones you hurt the most? I think this is something like that."

Steve was watching Danny intently, listening to every word and letting it sink in.

"You've been the same person you've always been Steve. Yeah you're a control freak and you drive me crazy a lot, but I love you for it and I wouldn't change you. So I should be the one apologizing, not you."

"S'okay Danno, you can take it out on me."

"No babe, it's not okay, it's not. It's not fair to you. But I promise once we make it out of this, that'll change okay," Danny smiled as he reached over and grabbed Steve's hand. This was a conversation that was a long time coming, and although the circumstances were less than ideal, he was glad they finally had it.

"I'll t-try not t'be as controlling too," Steve said as he squeezed Danny's hand back.

This elicited a laugh from both partners.

"Okay may-maybe not."

"Yeah, pretty sure that's impossible for you babe."

Danny smiled as he looked back at the gauges to make sure that everything air control had told him earlier was still intact. The levels were still above the horizon line, and the compass heading was still between North and the number 3. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath – trying to settle the uneasy feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. As much as he loved that Steve was talking, he could hear Steve's condition deteriorating with every word he spoke and Danny knew that they still had a long ways to go before he landed this thing, _IF_ he could even land it.

Danny opened his eyes as Steve's voice, barely above a whisper now, cut through the eerie silence of the tiny aircraft.

"I-I love you Danno, you're the be-best partner and best fr-friend I could have ever asked for."

Danny froze, completely shell-shocked and devastatingly terrified. He literally felt sick to his stomach as his heart broke into a million pieces at the realization of what Steve was doing – he was saying goodbye.

"Stop it Steve," Danny's voice quivered as tears filled his eyes. With a few words Steve was able to completely strip Danny of any resolve he had left; it was taking everything in him not to completely break down and cry.

"Dan-"

"NO! No Steve, just no. You're not saying bye right now okay, do you hear me? You can't! You don't get to force your way into my life, get me to love you as if you were my own flesh and blood, and then leave me alone on that pineapple infested island. This is NOT how this ends…" Danny closed his eyes and continued, much quieter, "…this is not how _we_ end." He then turned to his partner, locking eyes with the man he had grown to love so fiercely, so deeply, that they had become more than partners, more than friends; they were brothers. "You're going to be fine and then you're going to keep being my annoying-ass, controlling, overly-protective, loyal-to-a-fault partner okay. Because I can't imagine my life without you in it; I can't lose you Steve, I can't lose another brother."

Steve choked back the sob that had lodged itself in his throat somewhere during Danny's heartbreaking rant. He had never known the kind of loyalty and love that Danny had given him in the 6 years that they had been partners. He knew this was killing Danny because if the roles were reversed, Steve would feel the same way. Steve closed his eyes; he could feel himself slipping away and it broke his heart to think about how Danny was going to deal with his death.

Steve used the last of his energy to reach out his hand and place it on Danny's arm. He wasn't sure if it was more to console Danny or himself, but he needed to feel his partner's warmth; needed to feel their physical bond one last time before he closed his eyes for good.

The instant he felt the hand on his arm, Danny closed his eyes. When he opened them again he took his best friend's hand in his, squeezing it as he locked eyes with Steve; both partners finally allowing the tears to fall as the pain they felt for each other was so overwhelming that it superseded any desire they had of staying strong.

Dae Won looked on as, even he, found himself getting teary eyed at the scene unfolding before him. He hadn't known these two men for long but he could tell that they shared a special bond from the minute he met them. He had lost his fair share of friends throughout his life but he had never had anyone who meant as much to him as these two clearly meant to each other. So when Steve's hand went limp, and his eyes shut, he saw Danny's face morph; instantly filling with fear and heartbreak

"Buddy," Danny tried to nudge Steve, panic setting in when it elicited no reaction. Danny's eyes immediately darted downwards at the pool of blood that was growing under Steve's seat.

"Oh no, oh no, Steve…I…I…alright you, I need you to do something for me alright," Danny was now speaking to Dae Won.

"Focus on getting the plane down, instead of talking to me!"

"Listen, do what I tell you to do or I'm going to drop this thing in the water you understand?"

Knowing Danny was dead serious, Dae Won knew he had to do as he was told, but he didn't have to like it.

"What do you want?"

Danny lowered his head and swallowed the lump in his throat. He was about to ask Dae Won to do something he had hoped he'd never have to ask anyone to do - check if his partner's heart was still beating. That thought alone terrified him like nothing else ever had because if it wasn't, if Steve's heart was no longer pumping, Danny didn't know what he would do.

"I want you to put your hand on his neck and tell me if you feel a pulse okay." _Please have a pulse Steve._

Dae Won feebly tried to find a pulse, getting frustrated as he had no idea what he was doing or where to even feel for it.

"I- I don't know…"

"What do you mean you don't know, keep your hand on his neck, either you feel a pulse or you don't!" Danny yelled, his fear momentarily taking a back seat to the anger he felt that someone didn't know something as basic as finding a pulse on another human being.

As Dae Won was about to make a second feeble attempt at finding a pulse, alarms started to go off in the plane.

* * *

 **End of Part 1 - I thought the rest of this scene was really well done so I don't feel a need to redo it :). Part 2 coming soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the comments and reviews for part 1! Here's part two! The ending of the show really bothered me, like I mentioned before I get that it was a week later so maybe they had had the bromantic talk and what not but we didn't get to see it and well, I'm just going to assume it didn't happen for my story's sake lol This continues where the show left off, with Danny closing the curtain between him and Steve (and assuming my part 1 happened). Enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Part 2**

He was so tired and so hurt. He didn't care about the cards or the lack of recognition for what he did, he had gotten all that from the people who meant the most to him in the past week, but what bothered him the most was how Steve had been acting since he had woken up from the surgery. He didn't mind the ribbing and the arguments, that was part of who they were, but Steve had almost been flat out mean for the past week, a complete 180 from how he had acted on the plane, so when he made the comment about Charlie growing up to hate him as much as Steve did, Danny had heard enough.

Danny closed the curtain between them and turned his back to Steve.

"You do realize that the curtain doesn't block sounds right, I know you can still hear me," Steve wasn't going to let this go.

Danny closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. His chest was hurting more than it had earlier in the day and the constant ache from his broken ribs was almost unbearable. As much as he wanted to ask the nurses for more morphine he didn't want to worry Steve, because although Steve was being a huge ingrate, Danny knew that his partner still had a long ways to go for recovery and he'd be damned if he did anything to jeopardize it.

Steve pulled back the curtain so that it was no longer blocking his view of Danny.

"That was rude Danny, closing the curtain like that," Steve jabbed trying to get more of a rise out of Danny.

When Danny didn't say anything Steve continued.

"Why you being such a baby, turn around and talk to me."

"Watch your stupid soaps Steve and leave me alone," Danny closed his eyes shut as his head suddenly felt like it was going to explode.

"You're in a mood today huh," Steve said still staring at Danny's back.

"I'm not in a mood Steven, I just really don't need this right now, so please just watch your soaps and be quiet."

"You don't need this? In case you forgot, I was the one who was shot, so if anyone doesn't need this it's me," Steve smiled a triumphant smile as he saw Danny turning around to face him, but his smile was soon wiped off his face when he saw the anguish in his partner's eyes.

"Forgot?" Danny shook his head as a myriad of images of a dying Steve played through his mind. Unable to control the quiver in his voice, and being too tired to care anymore, he continued, " _I_ was the one who had to watch you bleed out, _I_ was the one who had to hear what I thought were your last words to me, _I_ was the one who had to check to see if you had a pulse, _I_ was the one who the doctor called to break the news that you would die in a matter of hours if you didn't get a new liver. So no, I haven't forgotten and I'm never goin'a forget, no matter how much I wish I could."

Danny could have laughed at the guilty look on Steve's face, but nothing about today was funny to him, so instead he just opted to turn back around.

Steve swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling incredibly guilty. He knew that he was acting like an ass, that he'd been acting like an ass since he woke up from surgery, and although he knew why he was acting like that, it finally hit him that maybe he had taken it too far.

Steve also knew that Danny was definitely in a lot of pain, he had asked his friends to give him a complete run down of all of Danny's injuries a few days ago. The list consisted of broken ribs, bruises throughout his body, and a concussion, on top of the surgery to remove half of his liver. Realizing that he had done enough damage, Steve decided to let Danny get some rest.

Steve sighed as he looked at his partner; he would fix everything in the morning, he would apologize to Danny and make everything right, it was the least of what he owned him.

* * *

Steve felt uneasy the minute he woke up; pain-wise he felt perfectly fine, the T3s he took before bed doing their job, but this was definitely something else. He felt sick to his stomach; maybe it was PTSD, but he's had PTSD before and it didn't feel like this. This was more like a feeling of dread, like his stomach was in knots for something that was about to happen; he looked over at the clock by the door – 2am.

Steve sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. He wanted to raise his bed up a bit but couldn't risk waking Danny up with the noise it would make. Steve looked over at Danny's prone figure. He still remembered the conversation they had had a few hours ago and he felt even guiltier than he had then, if that was even possible. Steve was about to look away when he saw Danny turn around, staring up at the ceiling, eyes wide with panic.

"Danny?" Steve ignored the pain that coursed through his body as he sat up to get a better view of his partner.

"St-Steve," Danny could barely get his name out in between the gasps for air.

"Danno! What's wrong?!" Steve couldn't hide the panic in his voice, something was very wrong with Danny.

"Can't…ca-can't bre-breathe…"

Steve pressed the call button immediately and yelled for the nurses as the machine monitoring Danny's heart rate flat-lined.

 _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

"WE NEED SOME HELP IN HERE!"

* * *

The next few minutes were a flurry of events that Steve was never going to forget. The nurses and doctors rushed into the room just as Danny went limp. Steve watched on in horror as the crash cart was brought out, sending shock waves through his partner, as the doctors tried their best to get Danny's heart beating again.

"What happened! What's wrong with him?" Steve yelled, feeling completely helpless and utterly useless. As he tried to get up from his bed a nurse rushed over and held him down.

"Commander you can't get out of bed, you're still recovering."

"I don't care, I need to be with him, I need him to know that I'm here."

"Commander please, we're working on him, you'd only be getting in the way," the nurse replied knowing full well that was the only way she was going to get Steve to stay put.

Steve watched on in complete anguish as they worked on Danny; time seemed to go by minutely, every second feeling like an hour. What if he never got to thank Danny for what he did; apologize to him for how he'd been acting; tell him how much he loved him?

 _Beep…beep…beep_

Steve let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding as he saw the rise and fall of Danny's chest once again. He sunk back into his bed, completely spent, unaware of how much energy the last few minutes had drained out of him. Steve closed his eyes as he tried to hear what the doctors and nurses were saying.

Infection…heart…a coma…he was only getting bits and pieces; bits and pieces wasn't good enough, he needed to know what had just happened.

"What happened to my partner, why did his heart stop?" Steve spoke up, his eyes opening as he turned to the doctors and nurses in the room.

"Commander you should get some rest."

"I'll get some rest once you tell me what just happened," Steve grounded out a little angrier than he had intended.

The nurse sighed, everyone at the hospital knew how close the two partners were which meant that Steve would not stop asking until he got the answers he was looking for.

"Detective Williams suffered a complication from the surgery. It's not uncommon for an infection to set in to the recipient or the donor of the liver. In this case it was the latter. The infection spread quickly and attacked his heart which is why he went into cardiac arrest."

Steve swallowed the lump in his throat, Danny had almost died because of him….again.

"Is that normal…for it to spread that quickly?"

The nurse looked down at her feet, unsure of whether she should answer that question or not. Steve could see the answer written all over her face so he decided to make it a little easier on her by answering his own question.

"It's because he was injured before wasn't it."

The nurse looked up.

"Yes, Detective William's infection is a lot worse due to the severity of his injuries prior to the surgery. These injuries compromised his immune system which we had a feeling would happen. It was also why we insisted that we find someone else to donate their liver but your partner was adamant that we take his. There was no talking him down."

Steve shook his head as he looked at Danny.

 _Of course there was no talking him down, he's stubbornly loyal to a fault, even if it means dying for the people he loves._

Directing his attention back to the nurse, "What um…what happens now? How do we stop the infection?"

"We're going to place him in a medically induced coma while we run a course of antibiotics. The coma will help his body rest and will let the antibiotics do their job without any additional stress that Detective Williams may go through if he was conscious. Hopefully he'll respond and we won't need to take any further action. We'll be monitoring him closely for the next 24-48 hours."

"He's going to be okay though right?" Steve asked, not even trying to mask the fear that was evident in his voice.

The nurse smiled a sad smile. These two partner had been through so much over the years and she, just like all of her colleagues, had a soft spot for the two.

"He's stable right now, and as long as he reacts to the antibiotics then he'll be just fine."

Steve knew the words that were left unsaid – _If he doesn't react to them he could die –_ but he didn't need to nurse to confirm that so he simply nodded and thanked the nurse.

When everyone left the room Steve laid on his side, staring at Danny's still form. He hated himself for how he had treated Danny the last week and it killed him that there were so many things left unsaid between them. Danny had to make it past this because the alternative was unfathomable. Steve watched the steady rise and fall of his best friend's chest, with tears in his eyes, until he finally succumbed to his own exhaustion.

* * *

It had been two days since Danny's infection scare. He had responded well to the antibiotics and his prognosis was good as the doctors had ensured that he would make a full recovery. No one was more relieved than Steve who caused quite a scene when he requested to be put in a wheelchair so that he could sit by Danny's side. When he lost the battle with the nurses, doctors, and his team, he opted for a compromise; move the beds even closer together to reduce the distance between them. Steve spent every waking minute holding Danny's hand (when Grace, Chin, Kono, and Lou weren't doing so) and speaking to him, willing him to fight and come back to them.

* * *

His chest hurt, hell his whole body hurt; it felt like he had been hit by a truck. The sun was shining brightly through the windows of the room as he slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He knew something had happened last night, he remembered being short of breath and calling out to Steve, but the rest was a blur. As Danny tried to shift in bed he finally realized that Steve's hand was covering his own. He smiled as he felt the warmth emitting off his partner's hand, secretly hoping that no one would walk in because, after their last fight, he really wanted to hold onto this moment a little longer. He knew that Steve loved him, he never doubted it for a second, but it didn't mean that the way Steve had been acting the past week hurt any less. So seeing a simple gesture, like holding his hand, made the pain of the last few days dissipate a bit. Danny took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

"Danno?" Steve's soft voice broke through.

"Hey Steve," Danny smiled as he turned his head to face his partner.

"You're awake!" Steve shot up a lot quicker than he had intended, sinking into the bed as a wave of pain coursed through his body.

"Hey, take it easy buddy," Danny looked on concerned as he shifted to get a better look at Steve.

"M'okay," Steve took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. Once the pain subsided he opened them and looked directly at Danny.

"God it's good to see you awake partner."

"Why wouldn't I be awake?" Danny's face contorted in confusion. "What happened last night after I told you I couldn't breathe?"

"What do you remember?"

"Uh, I remember waking up in the middle of the night in a lot of pain and not being able to breathe properly, I called out for you and then you started yelling for help, that's all I remember."

Steve nodded.

"You had an infection from the surgery, it spread to your heart and you flat-lined."

Danny's eyes bugged out, "I what!"

"Yeah," Steve looked at the ground willing the images of that awful night out of his head. "That was two nights ago Danny. They gave you antibiotics and put you in a medically induced coma to help fight the infection. You responded well to them, the doctors said the infection was cleared, but this is the first time you've woken up since they took you out of the coma."

Danny stared at Steve intently as he took in everything his partner had just told him. Medically induced coma…two nights ago…flat-lining.

"You scared me man."

Danny smiled a sad smile as he looked over at Steve and saw the sincerity in his partner's words, "Consider it payback for what you put me through on the plane."

Steve laughed, "I guess that's fair, but let's not make a habit of this huh."

Danny smiled, "Deal."

The room went silent as both partners stared straight ahead, neither having forgotten their fight from a few nights ago.

Steve, rightfully so, was the first to break the silence.

"I'm sorry Danny," Steve turned his head as he looked into his best friend's eyes. "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting since I woke up from the surgery. You're right I've been acting like a complete ingrate, I didn't even thank you for what you did for me; for saving my life not once but twice. I know you were supposed to land that plane in the ocean, I know because that's standard protocol. Chin also told me how HIC told you to consider your own life, that landing in the ocean was YOUR best chance at survival and how you just flat out refused."

"You were unresponsive, you would've drowned, I wasn't about to let that happen," Danny stated matter-of-factly.

Steve smiled.

"I know, but you should've done it, but of course you didn't. And then if that wasn't badass enough you went and took down the guys who shot at us, came back to the hospital and gave me half your liver," Steve shook his head, it sounded even more insane when he said it out loud.

Danny smiled, "All in a day's work right?"

Danny saw the change in Steve's expression as they locked eyes once again.

"No Danno, what you did for me…" Steve paused as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'll never be able to repay you or thank you enough. I think part of the reason it took me so long to even say it is because I didn't think saying "thank you" even began to cover the gratitude I felt. Mix that in with me feeling completely and utterly helpless for the first time in my life and voila, you have asshole Steve. It was hard to process what had happened to me and it was even harder to process what you had to do to save my life. You have a family, you have two children who depend on you and you still risked everything for me. You could've died saving me and it would've been my fault."

Danny cringed at that last part, remembering what he had said to Steve the last time they spoke.

" _I don'know, you like getting shot at, what do I know."_

" _I like getting shot at? You think I chose to get shot?"_

Before Danny could interject, Steve continued, "In the end I just took all that confusion and all that pain and directed it towards you, the last person on this planet I should have taken it out on."

Danny looked down as he processed everything Steve had said to him. As twisted and messed up as it was, he understood. He knew that Steve was going to have emotional and mental scars from being shot and almost dying, those scars had just manifested a lot sooner than he had thought.

"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness but I really am sorry Danny. I'm so sorry for the way I've been treating you and I just want you to know that I was serious on the plane when I said that I loved you and that you were the best friend that I could've ever asked for."

"I forgive you, you big goof," Danny smiled as he locked eyes with his partner and squeezed his hand, wanting to ensure that this next part really resonated with his partner. "And you're right, I do have a family to think about and I _was_ thinking about them when I landed that plane on the beach. _You_ are my family too Steve, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, just like I know there's nothing you wouldn't do for me. And despite what I said to you the other night, none of this is your fault, not even a little bit okay, so get that thought out of your head. If I had died it would've been because of the choices I made, because I'd rather risk dying _with_ you than living in a world where you, my friend, aren't here to annoy me every waking minute of my day."

Steve could feel his eyes stinging as tears threatened to spill over. He squeezed Danny's hand back as a big smile spread across his face, "I feel the same way buddy."

"Good, that's good," Danny smiled back, his own eyes filling with tears.

Suddenly feeling the need to bring the emotional charge in the room down a few notches, Danny looked up at the curtain rod.

"Why are our beds so damn close together? Last I remembered, personal space was a right and I had the ability to drown you out with a curtain."

"Yeah, about that, I uh, I threatened to climb out of bed and sit beside you until you woke up so they decided to move our beds closer together instead," Steve smirked.

Danny shook his head, "Of course you did Steven, because _god forbid_ you give these nice people a break from your insane Neanderthal ways."

Steve's hearty laugh filled the room and Danny couldn't help but laugh back. Both partner's relaxed as the tension and emotional energy left the room; they had both needed that talk.

After a few moments Danny saw a change in Steve's expression, the smile gone from his face replaced by a look Danny couldn't quite put his finger on.

"I'm glad you didn't kill him," Steve said staring at the wall in front of him.

A simple statement that held so much power and emotion behind it, Danny understanding now why the mood in the room had shifted so suddenly.

Danny swallowed as he looked from his partner to the ground, unsure if he should say what he was about to say, but also knowing that if he was going to say it to anyone, it would be Steve.

"I wanted to, _god_ I wanted to, I was so close too. You bleeding out kept playing like a loop over and over in my head, and I wanted to end his miserable life. He was baiting me too. I stopped myself once and then came back again, I thought for sure I was going to pull the trigger that second time around."

"But you didn't," Steve interjected, not wanting his partner to go down that dark road.

"No, no I didn't," Danny said. Locking eyes with Steve, he continued, "But if I knew you were dead, if you had died before I left that hospital…it probably would've ended a whole lot differently."

Steve clenched his jaw as he saw the raw emotion in his partner's eyes – a mix of pain, fear and shame. He knew what Danny's grief made him capable of, hell they were all capable of it, but he was so incredibly grateful that it hadn't come down to that again.

"But I didn't and you didn't."

"Yeah," Danny nodded. It still scared him the lengths he would go to to avenge someone he loved. He did it for Matt and Steve wouldn't have been an exception. But Steve was right, there was no point thinking about it because Steve had lived and the guy that shot him was locked up where he belonged.

Danny snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Steve reaching for the call button.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, I'm letting the doctor know you're awake."

"Why?" Danny really liked this, he liked finally connecting with Steve again and it bummed him out that this moment was about to end with a bunch of nurses and doctors coming into the room to make a huge fuss over him.

"Well because Danno, they need to know that you're awake and okay."

"Five minutes," Danny requested.

Understanding why Danny wanted the extra few minutes, and completely agreeing and feeling the same way, Steve obliged.

As they both stared up at the ceiling Steve turned to Danny, finally saying what he should have said from the second he woke up, "I love you buddy."

Danny smiled back as a huge weight felt like it was finally lifted off his shoulders, "Love you too babe." He knew that they still had a long ways to go to recover both physically and mentally but he and Steve were alive and they were finally on the same page.

"You know," Steve started as he snapped his head towards Danny. "What you did after that crash, going into a gunfight with broken ribs without even getting checked out first, you know can't yell at me anymore for doing crazy things right?"

Danny glared at Steve.

"Oh no, you are NOT doing that Steven! I had just gone through something traumatic, I get a pass, you on the other hand are certifiably crazy! You do that stuff on a daily basis out of pure enjoyment!"

"Enjoyment? I do it out of necessity to contain the situation," Steve smirked.

"HA! Contain the situation he says," Danny mocks as he looks away. And then looking back at his partner, "Containing the situation would be waiting for back up like a normal person would, a normal person with a normal brain and a normal conscious, you my friend, have none of those! You run into every situation like a ninja on steroids."

"Kind'a like you did a few days ago?" Steve smiled; he had missed this.

"I WAS TRAUMATIZED!" Danny yelled a little louder wanting to smack the large smirk off Steve's face.

"And a ninja on steroids, really Danny? Where do you even come up with this stuff, I swear man you..."

The bickering went on for another few minutes as their voices filled the hospital corridors.

They were back and they were both going to be just fine.

 **THE END**


End file.
